


Not Quite Quiet

by SnakeFeathers



Series: Small Stories, Tumblr Tales: Ask Prompts [2]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Hawkeye (Comics), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Bucky Barnes Recovering, Deaf Clint Barton, Gen, I need more of Clint and Bucky being bros and if I have to write it all myself so be it, Muteness, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Sign Language, recovery is never a 100 percent thing and that is okay, sniper bros
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-08
Updated: 2015-02-08
Packaged: 2018-03-11 05:04:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 562
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3315122
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SnakeFeathers/pseuds/SnakeFeathers
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bucky hasn't really spoken since Steve brought him in. He looks like he wants to but can't form the words, can't get them out into the tense air anymore. Clint has an idea about how to help.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Not Quite Quiet

**Author's Note:**

> A short piece I original wrote for an imagines blog on tumblr that I was apart of before I had to leave. Clint and Bucky are one of my favorite things and one of my favorite duos in the MCU and comic verse so I really just want to write them forever tbh. So, enjoy a short little in-recovery ficlet set soon after CA:TWS ends and before AOU.

When Steve had brought him in the guy had been a mess, withdrawn and passive and unsettlingly quiet. In the whole time he’d been in the tower, which was going on about four months now, Clint hadn’t heard Barnes say more than a handful of words, and almost all of those few words were in a voice so rough and quiet from disuse that they were almost indecipherable. It was frustrating for all parties involved, since Steve wanted to hear from him if he needed help and Barnes looked desperate to communicate.

Now, Clint was plenty familiar with how it felt to have someone else in control of your actions, and seeing Bucky frustrated like that tugged at something inside of him. So, the first time he found Bucky sitting by himself, staring at the television blearily, did he decide to try something. He sat down a little ways down the couch from him, gauging his reaction. Barnes turned to look at him, but his body language remained languid and calm, all good signs.

"Hey, Barnes, I..." Clint started, taking a moment to figure out how to phrase his words, "I noticed you're having a little trouble talking with Rogers, if you want, I can try and teach you sign language?" he made sure to keep his words open-ended and non-threatening, not wanting him to interpret it as an order. Barnes blinked at him a bit owlishly before he shifted, turning to face him. Clint wasn't expecting him to actually sloppily, slowly sign back. It was clumsy and awkward from disuse, but he was able to pick up " _difficult_ ".

"Your arm," he spoke out loud, just what the implication was sinking in, "makes it difficult, then. Hold on, I've got something else that might help." Clint started to dig through a small shopping bag he'd carried to the couch with him, a plan B if his first idea hadn't panned out. Considering how much things rarely went right on the first try with him, he'd expected this. He produced a small whiteboard and a myriad of brightly colored wipe-away markers, all lightly scented so they wouldn't have the harsh chemical smell of regular ones. The last thing he wanted was to give him anything that might possibly trigger a memory.

"It isn't much, but, maybe you can use this when you want to 'speak'? I used this a lot with Kate after my injury that ruined my hearing," he tapped his ear in emphasis, where the barely-noticeable hearing aid was just hardly visible, "don't feel like you have to, okay? This is just in case you need something and want to communicate. We're not asking you to speak or even write if you don't want to, but we just want to make sure you've got a way of getting your message across to us."

Barnes watched him intently as he spoke, eyes flicking between the offered gift and his face. There was a long minute of silence between the two snipers as he seemed to digest everything he'd said, before his eyes seemed to light up the slightest bit and he reached out to gingerly take the board from him. He looked it over for several minutes, opened and closed some of the markers, before he seemed satisfied enough to write something down and turn it to present to Clint.

**_"Thank you"_ **


End file.
